Norton cybercrime report 2011: Exposing the true scale!

According to the Norton Cybercrime report 2011, there are 1 million+ victims a day, including 50,000 victims every hour, 820 per minute and 14 per second. The total bill for cybercrime footed by online adults in 24 countries topped $388 billion over the past year. Gaurav Kanwal, country sales manager, India & SAARC, Consumer Products and Solutions, Symantec presented the report that covers 24 countries and 20,000 people. The most at risk are said to be the millennial males.

The total cost of global cybercrime was worth $114 billion annually. Based on the value victims surveyed placed on time lost due to their cybercrime experiences, an additional $274 billion was lost. Some of the prominent countries bearing the cash cost of cybercrime include USA -- $32 billion, Brazil -- $15 billion, China -- $25 billion, India -- $4 billion, and Australia, Japan and Mexico -- $2 billion each.Cybercrime hotspots: Source: Norton Cybercrime report 2011.

In India, the most common and most preventable type of cybercrime remains computer viruses or malware. It was 60 percent overall and 75 percent had occured in the last 12 months. The three most preventable crimes are said to be viruses/malware at 60 percent, scams at 20 percent and mobile threats at 17 percent. In India, over 29.9 million people fell victim to cybercrime last year, suffering $4 billion in direct financial losses and an additional $3.6 billion in time spent resolving the crime.

The Norton Cybercrime report also reveals that 10 percent of adults online globally (17 percent in India) have experienced cybercrime on their mobile phone. Besides the threats on mobile devices, increased social networking and lack of protection are said to be some of the main culprits behind the growing number of cybercrime victims.

The top six countries found to be in emerging danger due to cybercrimes include China at 85 percent, South Africa at 84 percent, Mexico at 83 percent, and Brazil, India and Singapore at 80 percent each, respectively.

It was also reported that 43 percent of Indian adults do not have an uptodate security software suite to protect their personal information online. Despite the huge costs of cybercrime, many people are not investing in adequate security software that protects against computer viruses and other preventable cybercrimes.

Globally, over a third of adults (35 percent) do not feel safe online from cybercrime attacks. This rises to 50 percent of French adults, 53 percent of Brazilian adults, 64 percent of Indian adults and 88 percent of Japanese adults. Also, a whopping 94 percent of Indians believe that more needs to be done to bring cybercriminals to justice.

Now, 43 percent of Indians say they need to access the Internet daily. And, 47 percent of the Indian social network users think they would lose contact with friends if they had to live without their social networks.

“Two things worry me. Mobile applications and crimes will be committed from or against mobile phones. As use of smartphones grow we are going to basically have computerised wallets and I would see that as being both a target and means of attack,” says a global user.

Cybercrime makes victims feel just as angry and upset as physical crime. Yet, people are not taking adequate protection. China, Singapore and South Africa are among today's cybercrime capitals. These also happen to be countries with the highest number of free AV software users, and people accessing the Internet and becoming a cybercrime victim via another mobile device.

With the growth in Internet access over mobile devices, coupled with a lack of protection for personal data is likely to lead to a corresponding global rise in cybercrime via mobile devices in the years to come.